New zealand’s new housing law to deliver “thousands” of homes

The Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill passed on its third reading in New Zealand parliament this month. The law, which will come into effect on Monday 16th September will help ease pressure on the Auckland housing market and help the country’s economic recovery.

“The game changer in this new law is the unblocking of the constipated planning system,” explains Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith. “It will enable plan changes and resource consents to be processed simultaneously. It will over-ride Auckland’s Metropolitan Urban Limit. It will enable low-rise greenfield developments to be consented in six months, when they previously took three years, and low-rise brownfield developments to be consented in three months, when they previously took a year.”

The bill will allow the Auckland Council to consent 39,000 homes of the 400,000 identified in its Unitary Plan without waiting for it to become operative in the years’ time.

 “We also have work underway to reduce infrastructure costs on sections, address the costs of building materials, improve productivity in the building industry, and reduce compliance costs,” continues Smith. “Our next phase of RMA reforms will require councils to plan for 10 years of land supply for housing. We have also announced initiatives to treble the number of Welcome Home Loans and expand KiwiSaver to help first home buyers save a larger deposit.

“Parliament’s passage of this new housing law today is a vital step to getting momentum and pace into residential housing development,” he concludes. “My ambition is to have sufficient Special Housing Areas approved by Christmas for at least an additional 5,000 homes.”